Author Topic: RIP my friend (Read 17553 times)

scottly · « **on:** September 12, 2012, 09:37:45 PM »

My best friend of over 40 years passed tonight....

Retro Rocket · « **Reply #1 on:** September 12, 2012, 09:47:44 PM »

Very sorry to hear that Scott, keep your head up mate....

scottly · « **Reply #2 on:** September 12, 2012, 10:21:53 PM »

Some pics from days gone by...

RAFster122s · « **Reply #3 on:** September 12, 2012, 11:21:05 PM »

Scott, sorry to hear of his passing. Hang in there buddy.

70CB750 · « **Reply #4 on:** September 13, 2012, 03:59:59 AM »

Sorry to hear that, Scott.

MoMo · « **Reply #5 on:** September 13, 2012, 05:02:54 AM »

My condolences go out to you. It is difficult to lose someone that you have known for such a long time. A close friend has this saying that I found helpful when I lost my wife--"it is just a change of address". Larry

Damfino · « **Reply #6 on:** September 13, 2012, 08:20:28 AM »

My condolences, Scott. They live forever in your dreams...

scottly · « **Reply #7 on:** September 13, 2012, 07:13:16 PM »

Thanks guys. The last week has been a surreal nightmare for all of us.

When I got the Seeley in '79, Henry came over to check it out. He couldn't believe I had paid so much for a mundane Honda 750 when I told him about it over the phone, but after I told him about the big bore, Webers, mag wheels,Reynolds 531 frame etc, he was on his way.
I started the bike up on the center stand, and blipped the throttle a few times to 3500-4000 RPM. He says "Let's hear it rev!", so I blip the throttle a few times to 5000. "No, REV IT!!" He grabs the throttle and whacks it WFO. Before he could react, the motor hit 10,000 plus, and when he did react, it was to yank his hand off the grip as if he had gotten shocked off a spark-plug wire. I don't recall the exact string of euphemisms that erupted from him, but he was impressed.

BobbyR · « **Reply #8 on:** September 13, 2012, 07:51:01 PM »

Scott, my deepest sympathies. I have friendships that have lasted 50 years. At some point they become Brothers, and you cannot imagine they would not be around forever.

bill440cars · « **Reply #9 on:** September 14, 2012, 09:34:49 PM »

Sure sorry to hear about your loss, Scotty. Friends (REAL Friends) are harder to come by now days and to lose one, in a Real Shame. Hang in There Brother. I'm Praying For The Family AND You.

LesterPiglet · « **Reply #10 on:** September 14, 2012, 09:53:07 PM »

I am so so sorry to have to reply to this. My condolences..

Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er · « **Reply #11 on:** September 21, 2012, 09:26:58 PM »

So sorry for your loss. Even though a big piece of you is gone he made your heart that much bigger.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #12 on:** September 22, 2012, 10:31:46 PM »

Sorry for your loss Scott, and Schmitty's spot on, you'll still be able to visit him in your dreams. Cheers, Terry.

scottly · « **Reply #13 on:** September 22, 2012, 10:49:01 PM »

Do you remember this rig, Terry? It was one of Henry's creations. He never could decide if he was building it for form or function.

PS It's true about the dreams.....

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #14 on:** September 23, 2012, 04:34:32 AM »

I do! I love that thing Scott, do you still drive it? Cheers, Terry.

scottly · « **Reply #15 on:** September 25, 2012, 07:37:01 PM »

Henry parked the Green Machine a few years ago. He had pretty much given up on the V-8 one-gear setup. His plans were to swap in a modern bike motor and run a smaller rear tire; less weight, plus more gears to keep the motor on it's power-band, and a smaller rear tire so he could hang the ass-end out. The fat tire would only spin when the clutch was dumped at 4500 RPM, and instead of sliding in a turn would put the rig on 2 wheels. The previous three-wheeler he built using a Honda V-4 bike, grafted to the front of a dune buggy frame, was scary fast, and handled scary on the road, too. Wandered all over the place, but it was a blast going around corners with the rear wheel sliding... We figured out it was a caster issue, and corrected it on this one.

scottly · « **Reply #16 on:** September 25, 2012, 07:54:29 PM »

A couple of years ago, Henry decided dirt bikes were too dangerous, so what did he do? He stuffed his hot rod XR500 motor into a mini-bike, just to do burnouts!

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #17 on:** September 26, 2012, 01:27:18 AM »

Ha ha, I like Henry, he was a madman! I've got an XR500 in my garage at the moment, but I don't think the owner would like me stuffing the engine in a minibike frame!

I had a Go Kart back in the early 1970's that a local "Henry" had built from scratch, it was powered by a Royal Enfield 350 with 4 speed gearbox that would do 105 MPH.

He tested it on a quiet country road with a car load of his drunken mates following in a car. Only problem with his design was severe understeer, so in the first decent bend he sailed straight off the road, cleared a farm fence and landed, unscathed, in a nice soft paddock. I bought it for the princely sum of 50 bucks, and I would sneak out late at night and roar around my home town. It had no brakes, no suspension and vibrated like a bastard, but was great fun.

Long live the Henry's of the world! Cheers, Terry.

scottly · « **Reply #18 on:** September 26, 2012, 07:13:12 PM »

This pic is of a drag-race we had; Henry on his 3 HP Tecumseh powered pedal car, with mock blown Hemi, and me on my electric mini-bike. He was trying to cheat by grabbing the frame of the mini-bike as I crept by, getting the hole-shot. Both rigs had a top speed of about 13 MPH, but the pedal car had tremendous torque, and we even towed Henry's Suzuki Tracker once, just to prove it could do it. The wheelie bars on the back were both functional and necessary.
It's exactly 2 weeks, almost to the minute now, and it still hurts like hell........

Stev-o · « **Reply #19 on:** September 26, 2012, 09:14:56 PM »

Sorry to hear, Scott.

Hope sharing these fond memories with us can help in some way.

scottly · « **Reply #20 on:** September 26, 2012, 09:36:55 PM »

Thanks Steve. It does help to share the memories of the guy I grew up with. So many stories, so many adventures. I'll try to share more, as they come flooding back into conscious thought, like the Isetta frame towed behind the Fiat 500 around Mud Lake, the Renault dune-buggy, the time he crashed his 250 CZ gashing his shin open on the foot-peg, the off-road motorized skate-boards..... Man, we had a LOT of fun over the years!!

scottly · « **Reply #21 on:** October 14, 2012, 08:13:00 PM »

Here is a pic from 1982, taken at a riding area called Palm Ave, near San Diego. Henry had just gotten his new XR500, and I had just gotten my CR480. A bunch of us converged at his place in San Diego, and we rode jet-skis, sailed catamarans, and went to Mexico, where Henry and I rode our dirt-bikes.
From left to right: My girlfriend Nancy, me, Henry's brother Donald kneeling, his sister Linda, and Henry. (the guy in the yellow shirt was Linda's boyfriend at the time.)
I got in touch with Nancy's family yesterday to get an updated phone number, since I hadn't talked to her in almost 10 years, only to find out that she passed away 6 years ago.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #22 on:** October 15, 2012, 12:45:11 AM »

That's no good Scott, what happened to Nancy? Cheers, Terry.

scottly · « **Reply #23 on:** October 15, 2012, 07:54:29 PM »

It was cancer, Terry. From what I was told, it started as breast cancer, then was in remission, then came back and metastasized to her brain. The good news was that during the remission, she was able to travel and do some things on her bucket list, like bicycling in Italy. I didn't think to ask if she ever made it to New Zealand, but that was one of the places she told me she wanted to go to, many years ago. She had a T-shirt when I first met her that said something like "5 million sheep, 500,000 people".
She took the picture of Henry and I standing in front of my VW bus, in 1981. That was when she first met him.
One of the things that struck me hard, was that the last time I tried to get in touch with her was only 6 months or so before she passed. I found out that she had gotten married, and was given her new phone number, and called a couple of times, but only got an answering machine. Since I was unsure how her husband would react to a call from a former boyfriend, I never left a message, and decided to let a sleeping dog lie. I regret that now....

FunJimmy · « **Reply #24 on:** October 15, 2012, 09:19:51 PM »

Quote from: scottly on September 13, 2012, 07:13:16 PM

Thanks guys. The last week has been a surreal nightmare for all of us.

When I got the Seeley in '79, Henry came over to check it out. He couldn't believe I had paid so much for a mundane Honda 750 when I told him about it over the phone, but after I told him about the big bore, Webers, mag wheels,Reynolds 531 frame etc, he was on his way.
I started the bike up on the center stand, and blipped the throttle a few times to 3500-4000 RPM. He says "Let's hear it rev!", so I blip the throttle a few times to 5000. "No, REV IT!!" He grabs the throttle and whacks it WFO. Before he could react, the motor hit 10,000 plus, and when he did react, it was to yank his hand off the grip as if he had gotten shocked off a spark-plug wire. I don't recall the exact string of euphemisms that erupted from him, but he was impressed.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
Thanks for sharing a wonderful memory with us.

Best wishes
FJ

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Author Topic: RIP my friend (Read 17553 times)